Development of a Compact Horizontal-Type Scroll Compressor for Alternative Refrigerants

A program for total abolition of refrigerants using HCFCs bas been adopted and a selection of alternative refrigerants to HCFC is an urgent task, thus enhancing an absolute necessity to develop a reliable and high efficiency scroll compressor for alternative refrigerants. In the present market in Japan, furthermore, a competition to be a leader in energy saving technology for air conditioners is now highly intensified and there appears an increasing demand for the scroll compressors to be ever more reliable and efficient. Under such circumstances, based on a compact horizontal~ type scroll compressor that has been popular in the market since its release in 1992, we have developed a scroll compressor for an alternative refrigerants, R410A, which is a mixed refrigerants of R32 and Rl25. R410A is inferior in lubrication performance, because of no chlorine(Cl) in its composition, thus inducing a severe sliding condition in each pair of the compressor elements, compared with the present refrigerant, R22. Furthermore, since the pressure is 1.5 times larger in R410A than in R22, we have to modify basic design factors of compressors. This paper describes the details of development of basic technologies.